ACROSS THE NATION.

$800 billion hike in debt limit OKd

November 19, 2004|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress sent President Bush an $800 billion boost in the federal borrowing limit on Thursday, spotlighting how the budget has lurched out of control in recent years and how hard it will be to afford future initiatives.

The House approved the measure by a near-party-line 208-204 vote as White House and bipartisan congressional bargainers moved to the verge of agreement on a year-end spending package expected to total $388 billion.

The debt limit bill would pump up the federal borrowing cap to $8.18 trillion. That is 70 percent of the size of the entire U.S. economy.